Bk960218
TO THE BEST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE
from Wisconsin Public Radio
February 18, 1996 Programs
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1100 - 1159 Hour #1 Government
1200 - 1259 Hour #2 Invention
1300 - 1359 Hour #3 Japanese-Americans
PROGRAM RUNDOWN Hour 1:Government
SEGMENT 1:
Republican policy analyst (and some say, visionary) James
Pinkerton tells Steve Paulson why he believes in a vastly
streamlined government informed by the best of Roosevelt's New
Deal. Pinkerton is the author of "What Comes Next: The End of
Big Government - and the New Paradigm Ahead." Also, Robert
Samuelson, a columnist for Newsweek magazine and the author of
"The Good Life and Its Discontents: The American Dream in the
Age of Entitlement, 1945-1995," tells Judith Strasser about the
fundamental paradox of contemporary government: people say
they hate big government but don't want to give up any of the
programs that benefit them.
SEGMENT 2:
Anne Jordan, assistant managing editor of Governing magazine,
tells Jim Fleming about this year's winners of the Innovations
in American Government Awards. The winners are generally
collaborations between local governments and the private
sector.
SEGMENT 3:
Lewis Lapham, editor of Harper's Magazine, is the author of
"Hotel America." He tells Steve Paulson that the nineteenth
century mechanics of democracy may not work for the twenty
first century; that the current vogue for "values" in politics
is a distraction and racist; and that politicians are the last
people we should look to for exemplars of character.
For cassette copies of this hour, call 1-800-747-7444, and ask for program number
02-18-A.
PROGRAM RUNDOWN Hour 2:Invention
SEGMENT 1:
Paul McCready, inventor of the pedal-powered airplane, the
Gossamer Condor, tells Steve Paulson about his new gizmo: the
Pathfinder is an unmanned airplane that cruises at 60,000 feet
for months at a time powered by the sun. McCready is the
chairman of AeroVironment in Monrovia, CA.
SEGMENT 2:
Dava Sobel explains to Jim Fleming how an eighteenth century
woodworker built a clock that kept ships from getting lost at
sea. Her book is "Longitude: The True Story of the Lone
Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time."
Also, longitude is at the heart of Umberto Eco's new novel,
"The Island of the Day Before." Eco tells Steve Paulson why he
is fascinated by the time when the world of alchemy and
religion was being challenged by the new thinking of Galileo
and Descartes.
SEGMENT 3:
Chindogu is the Japanese art of almost useless inventions --
things like the Hay Fever Hat which dispenses a roll of toilet
paper conveniently close to your runny nose. Or Duster
Slippers -- tiny mops you attach to your cats' feet so they can
dust under the bed for you; or training wheels for high heel
shoes. Dan Papia, president of the Chindogu America, tells
Judith Strasser that not just any screwball idea can make the
grade. Papia is the co-author (with Kenji Kawakami) of "101
Unuseless Japanese Inventions."
For cassette copies of this hour, call 1-800-747-7444, and ask for program number
02-18-B.
PROGRAM RUNDOWN: HOUR 3: Japanese-Americans
SEGMENT 1
UCLA sociologist Harry Kitano tells Steve Paulson that while
Japanese Americans are unified relative to other groups, there
is a generational split between those who lived through
internment during WWII and the younger generation.
SEGMENT 2:
Clair Gorfinkel, a staff member for the American Friends
Service Committee and editor of "The Evacuation Diary of
Hatsuye Egami," tells Jim Fleming what we learn about the
internment of Japanese through the fragmentary diary, and why
she was interested in publishing it. Also, David Guterson,
author of the best-selling "Snow Falling on Cedars," talks with
Judith Strasser about the novel and how the legacy of
internment remains an issue for citizens in his community on
Puget Sound.
SEGMENT 3:
Film-maker Ruth Ozeki Lounsbury has a hyphenated identity -
half Japanese, half American. Her film about her family,
"Halving the Bones," was screened this year at the Sundance
Festival. Lounsbury tells Judith Strasser why she gave herself
a Japanese middle name and how she is perceived by both
cultures.
For cassette copies of this hour, call 1-800-747-7444, and ask for program number
02-18-C.
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Last modified: Friday February 16, 1996